Hypertension affects more than 1 In 5 adults in North America1 and its prevalence is increasing as a result of the obesity epidemic and the ageing population.2,3 Over time, hypertension damages organs such as the brain, eyes, heart, and kidneys, with resistance arteries considered to be the first organ affected.4,5 Resistance arteries, those arteries smaller than 350 μm, are important in regulating blood flow and preventing a fluctuating pressure environment in the organs distal to the arterial beds.6 Damage to the resistance arteries comes in the form of remodeling and is caused by increased shear and tensile stresses resulting in decreased arterial distensibility and compliance, a process termed arterial stiffening.3,7 
Like hypertension, arterial remodeling and stiffening are largely asymptomatic until late stages when they affect organ function and ambulation.8 Vascular remodeling in essential hypertension, which accounts for more than 90% of diagnoses,9 generally takes the form of eutrophic inward remodeling.10 Eutrophic Inward remodeling decreases the lumen and external diameters, without changing the media cross-sectional area, leading to higher media:lumen ratio (M:L).
Hypertension diagnoses typically requires polypharmacy to manage the pressure and associated complications,11 and usually combines a diuretic to decrease the circulating volume and pressure with an angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor that decreases anglotensin II (AngII) production and its sequelae, namely vasoconstriction, fluid retention and cellular hypertrophy. However, there is an increasing emphasis being placed on diet and exercise to help manage hypertensive patients. Within this context, research on pulse crops has revealed that consumption of dried beans, peas, lentils and chickpeas can provide benefits with respect to cardiovascular health.12-16 Rimm et al12 showed that a daily serving of peas reduced the relative risk of heart attack to 0.52 (95% Cl 0.31-0.88), while Bazzano et al13 Indicated that eating 4 servings of pulses a week, compared to 1 or fewer, reduced the risk of coronary heart disease and overall cardiovascular disease by 22% and 11%, respectively. Additionally, there is evidence that pulses and pulse extracts may decrease vascular remodeling17,18 in response to AngII,15 even inhibiting ACE directly.14,19 
The spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) is a well-established and widely used model of hypertension,20 experiencing marked increases in both blood pressure (BP) and arterial stiffness.21 SHR exhibit increased expression of hypertrophic mediators such as profilln-1 (PFN1) and ACE,22,23 and activation of p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK) and extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2) in response to the chronic hypertensive state.24,25 